My kids' quilts

Here's something from before the holidays that I haven't had a chance to share yet. My kids (OK, really just my girls ... but little bro had t get in on the action) got it in their heads that they wanted to make themselves a doll quilt. Maybe it was seeing me work on my many projects. Maybe it was the anticipation of getting American Girl dolls for Christmas that would need their own little quilts. Likely, it was a combination of both.

Anyway, those of you who have spent any amount of time with 6 year-old girls know that, once they get something stuck in their heads, they can be very persistent. So it didn't take long for them to wear me down convince me to help them make their quilts.

I sat them in front of my scrap basket and told them they could pick out any fabrics they wanted for their quilts. (I tried my best to steer them away from my small stash of very-tempting-for-little-girls but hard to replace Mendocino mermaids and Heather Ross unicorns, but other than that they could use whatever they wanted!)

After they made their selections and I trimmed up some squares, they laid the squares out themselves. Then it was time to sew them all together.

Here's Megan with her quilt. She was definitely the ringleader of this whole project and the one who most wanted to make her own quilt. She was also the one most interested in learning how to actually make the quilt. I taught her the basics of the sewing machine, lining pieces up right sides together, using the 1/4" guide on the sewing foot ... she really seemed interested and able to grasp all of it. I can definitely see her getting into sewing and quilting before too long! I quilted Megan's quilt in a diagonal cross-hatch pattern, cutting through the middle of each patch.

And here's Bevin with her quilt that (unsurprisingly) prominently features flowers and the color pink. Bevin really enjoyed the process of picking out the fabrics and laying them out, and helped feed a few pieces through the machine, but otherwise really just wanted it to be finished so that she could have the final quilt. Let's just say that patience isn't her strong suit! I quilted Bevin's quilt in a basic straight-line outline / echo pattern.

PS. Don't you just love the purple pants and the bright pink striped socks? That is SO her.

And finally, here's baby bro Sean with his quilt. He INSISTED on using the scraps of the Tammis Keefe print featuring Santa and his reindeer that Scott sent me. Luckily, he hasn't yet noticed that Santa is actually whipping those poor reindeer. I was also able to use some small pieced blocks that I had received in some block swaps, which I think add a cool element to the quilt. I quilted Sean's quilt with a large pebble pattern, which gives the quilt such a cool look. A little more masculine too, IMHO.

Anyway, amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I was really happy to get to spend time with my kids and share this project with them. I know Anna and Eileen (new AG dolls) and Stitch (my son's most recent acquisition from DisneyWorld) are all happy to have their own quilts this winter, too!